Division III Team Of The Week: Week 4 - Heath
April 23, 2024
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Division III Team Of The Week: Week 4 - Heath
HEATH - Hayden Woodward belted five home runs helping Heath to four wins and the honor of being named the Prep Baseball Division III Team of the Week.
“The season was fractured with weather, but we’re finally getting to a spot of playing a lot of games,” noted head coach Tom Warren, who lost three players, including two starters, from a state semifinal team a year ago. “Guys are always better when they play every day.”
Going 23-9 last season and earning a berth in the Final 4 has been motivation for Heath.
“They got a taste of it,” pointed out Warren, who has eight seniors on this year’s roster, six that have been starting since they were freshmen. “They have a willingness to get better every day. They’re always working hard, putting in time when nobody is watching. Their commitment to Heath baseball is none better.”
Woodward gave a taste of things to come on the week, driving in all four runs with two home runs in a 4-2 victory over Lakewood, while also allowing two runs in six innings on the mound before getting relief from senior Wyatt Binckley.
There were two wins over Utica highlighted by a Riley Baum 15-strikeout three-hitter and two more long balls from Woodward. John Glenn was the victim of a Heath onslaught on Saturday, with Woodward going 6-6 with a home run. Paul Gould and Jayden Dansby also hit homers while Preston Devito had five hits. Carter Mason threw three scoreless frames in the five-inning win, moving the Bulldogs to 11-1.
Woodward, a Findlay commit rated the No. 22 senior outfielder in Ohio who plays first base, right field and second base in addition to pitching, is part of a staff featuring Baum, a Chatham University commit who is the 123rd-rated 2024 RHP in Ohio, and Binckley.
Senior shortstop Kaden Green, the three-hole hitter, senior center fielder Conner Toomey and Tannar Patterson, the 28th-ranked junior shortstop in the state, are other top players for the Bulldogs. Junior leadoff hitter Connor Corbett, a football standout at tailback and middle linebacker who is the 100th-rated junior outfielder in Ohio, is the player who “makes us go'' according to Warren.
“These seniors have put the time in on how to play baseball,” explained Warren, the leader of a program that has both JV and freshman teams in the same season for the first time ever. “We’re running three teams and having these seniors around the younger guys is so helpful.”
After beating Northridge on Monday to improve to 12-1, the third-rated D-III team in Ohio has a big game on Wednesday with Granville before taking on Johnstown on Thursday and Newark Catholic Friday.
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